A Reuters article by journalists Marcy Nicholson, A. Ananthalakshmi, and Jan Harvey has brought the squeeze in physical silver supplies – at least for silver coin investors – into the mainstream highlight, although this is put down, not to a shortage of silver per se but to  a deficit in coin manufacturing capability.  Even so, demand at this kind of level is bound to have an impact on supply/demand fundamentals.

They write:

The global silver-coin market is in the grips of an unprecedented supply squeeze, forcing some mints to ration sales and step up overtime while sending U.S. buyers racing abroad to fulfill a sudden surge in demand.

The U.S. Mint began setting weekly sales quotas for its flagship American Eagle silver coins in July because it can’t meet demand, and the Canadian mint followed suit after record monthly sales in July. In Australia the Perth Mint sold a record of more than 2.5 million ounces of silver this month, nearly four times more than in August, and has begun rationing supply of a new line of coins this month, a mint official said.

Silver coin demand “is absolutely through the roof,” said Neil Vance, wholesale manager at the Perth Mint. “There seems to be a bit of frenzy as people think there is a shortage of silver. But in fact it is a (crunch in) manufacturing capacity.” …… 

To read the full article click on: Silver-coin shortage shows bright side of precious metal collapse

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/01/us-silver-collectors-idUSKCN0R…